u/TheGrateGooglyMoogly

Well OK, but it's not going to be easy. Actually, it's not that hard, but it is a little expensive ($200-300), and "ugly" so you might want to make sure you have somewhere that your wife isn't going to be asking you how much longer until you can put that stupid tree outside.

Oh, that's another thing...this is a temporary solution for the most part. It will probably work long term, but I am assuming that you are going to be moving your tree outside as soon as temperatures are good. For me that is night time temps above 45F/7C. I don't like to play with freezing temps as my trees are well protected all winter, and probably pretty spoiled. I'm also assuming that you know how to acclimate your trees slowly by moving them out and in for a few hours at a time, and on nice days in the spring and fall. Ok let's go...

IF you have an unheated, attached garage that doesn't fall below like 40F/4C, you can actually do this pretty cheaply. I am lucky, and have that situation, so all I use is a GOOD grow light, hardware for mounting it to the beams in the ceiling, some boot trays to put the pots in, an oscillating fan, and a timer for the grow light. The boot trays just keep the water from going everywhere in the garage (or grow tent if you're growing inside your house). The timer is for obvious reasons, but I take it a step further, and add or subtract 30 minutes depending on the amount of daylight, which amounts to me changing it about every 2 weeks. I think it just helps the trees keep their rhythm.

If you are growing in your home, a spare room is best. In addition to everything above you will need a grow tent, and one of those desktop water fountains (or something else that you can leave running that will evaporate water). You'll also need a cheap digital thermometer/hygrometer combo ($20) for piece of mind. You don't need or want a humidifier. You should be able to get all of this for $200-300 if you go with a 24"x24"x55" tent ($70), and a Mars/Vivosun or similar light ($90-150).

Make sure that you have the fountain full of water everyday. It's what will keep the humidity up. Also, you're going to have to keep that tent closed most of the day. You want to keep that humidity up around 50%. Don't worry too much if you don't always hit the number, but you never want to see it at like 25%. If your tree is not actively growing, don't fertilize it, but if you do see flushes only give it 1/4-1/2 strength fertilizer at first. It's hard to flush salts out of the pot in winter, and pH problems are worse than nutrient deficiencies in my opinion. Other than that, just keep the fan on a low setting and blowing slightly over the top of the tree. It's there to move air, but also move the branches a little so they don't get weak. I think that's most of it. Anyone else want to chime in? Sorry for the wall of text.

edit: some spelling errors

No...no you shouldn't. This just answered 95% of the "Should I prune..." posts. Almost none of the trees posted here are anywhere near mature, and almost all of the growth on young trees is good. Maybe it doesn't look great, but the tree is growing there for a reason. Maybe to protect the other branches from sun scald. Maybe because that's the best spot to grow for the position you have it in. This especially goes for variegated varieties, which need all the help they can get. For 95% of the posts here...just leave it alone. It'll be OK. I promise.

With that being said, always prune root stock. Prune dying or dead branches. If you have a small scale infestation that you catch early, you can prune as they tend to just be on the tips of branches (also assuming your tree has branches).

Don't prune:

• If your tree is basically a stick with leaves, you are literally years away from having to prune anything that's not root stock.
• Crossing branches
• Low branches
• Branches with leaves that don't look perfectly healthy. You may need to prune these, but not yet.
• Branches that are not in an aesthetically pleasing location.
• Almost any healthy branch on any tree under 5 years old.
• Your. Whole. Main. Leader.

We don't have seasonal migrant workers picking our fruit. It's OK, and even better for some, if our trees are a little bushy. They don't have to be growmaxxed. I'm just saying to let your trees develop before you start cutting branches off.

...also, your variegated pink lemon tree is going to die if you don't move it outside.

When I get an order confirmation from one of the companies I but from (a large multi-national company) this email address is cc'd... None @ mx0b-001a6b01. pphosted. com. The responce I get from them is that they don't know what it is or why it is cc'd on my confirmations.